Swim teaching - To struggle to think of reasonable adjustments for ADHD?

I have worked with a lot of teachers who have ADHD and they have all been able to do their job very well without compromising the safety of the pupils. They are good with children and always on time to work. Jenny shouldn’t be a swimming teacher as she is completely unsuited to the job.

She needs to be accommodated by doing a different job. She could presumably superintend changing rooms or help customers at the desk or something? If she can't stay calm and attentive, she will endanger the kids in the class.

Jenny isn’t suited to the job. It’s harsh but having a teacher like that isn’t fair on the children, or their parents who have paid for the lessons! Jenny needs support to get a new job

This is the not the right for job for Jenny to be in, for the kids sake.

Whoever is keeping her there needs questioning as THEY are putting children at risk. Her adhd does not supersede the needs of the children .

Her (and your) number one priority is the children's safety. The swimming part is very much secondary.

Reasonable adjustments need to be reasonable. She can't expect to be allowed to get out of the pool and leave the kids. She can't compromise their safety by being dysregulated herself - no adjustment for this is reasonable.

If she cannot provide a save environment for the children she cannot do the job - you can't teach swimming from a quiet, darkened room. (Just as you can't be a firefighter if you're visually impaired, or be a binman if you need to use a wheelchair to get around). No adjustment is reasonable if it either endangers the children or means it changes the job requirements so significantly that she needs to be away from the poolside.

I think you can make all the adjustment you want - it doesn't sort the issue that Jenny cannot cope with the poolside. As a parent, I wouldn't be happy and go elsewhere. I don't think it's acceptable.

Are you having adult classes or other 1:1 lessons for children without SN? Could you support her with a backoffice role away from the pool?

What does Jenny want? She doesn't sound happy? does she not acknowledge herself, that the current role isn't maybe best suited for her?

My ADHD daughter has swimming lessons and if she had Jenny as a teacher there would either be a fatal accident or the police called. Swimming teachers have to be calm and collected or the kids will spiral (and the SEN kids will do so doubly).

Put Jenny on a PIP and explain in excruciating detail how she must behave and what she must do. Implement and document religiously.

Yes, same. I have an autistic five year old in swimming lessons who relies on her teacher being strong at co-regulation. I would suggest that Jenny perhaps teaches club or adult at the moment until things are more under control. Safety, including emotional safety of all swimmers can't be compromised.
What does Jenny think would help?

I'm adhd. Yes we have difficulties but we have to find ways to manage it. I plan to arrive half hour early so when I'm late I'm not actually late. That extra time is spent regulating before work. Carry everything you need in one bag and leave it in the car so can't be forgotten. You just have to mask around kids, I work with kids and you just cannot be disregulated in front of them. Adults needs do not trust children's needs. This isn't the right job for her

She needs to take se responsibility for her self and work on her own coping methods. There's only so much a workplace can do. She doesn't sound like she's at all suited to the job or any customer facing role.

Adhd can be managed very effectively, but it needs a lot of work. She needs to work on herself, discover what helps her cope and regulate herself and implement it- whether that's a lot of exercise, meditation etc.

This wouldn't make me feel any better as a parent. Learning to swim isn't just about the physical actions of swimming , it's about how to react and stay alive should a child get into difficulty and if she'd frantic and crying at the first sing if difficulty in the water herself, have a little think about what the children she's teaching are learning from her.

I have adhd and autism myself,k feel bad for Jenny but having a good heart and good intentions isn't enough when it comes to this. I'm surprised parents haven't pulled their children out of the classes because I certainly would.

Safety comes first.

This is not the right job for her.

You can't have a swimming teacher crying in the pool in front of kids. She's not fit for the job if she's doing this more than a one off.

I have ADHD as do my kids. I'm not unsympathetic but not everyone is right for every role all the time.

And autistic children need someone who us calm and consistent.

I wouldn't want to entrust my child's safety in water to someone with an attention deficit.

Sadly it doesn't sound like being a swimming teacher is for her and her Clients may well start voting with their feet.

This.

'Reasonable adjustments' have to be 'reasonable'.
Ultimately, some people aren't suited to some jobs.
It will vary. I have 2 dc with ADHD. Both have managed to work as lifeguards (same environment) and one of them as a swimming teacher. But obviously people are affected differently. In this case you have done what you can to see if it will work, but it doesn't work for her so you have to put the safety of the children first.

The key is reasonable adjustments. Her problems sound like they make her unsafe to be around children in water. I also wonder if she is misdiagnosed - did she get her diagnosis from an NHS assessor? There are certain personality disorders which can look similar and people may be given ND diagnosis when actually the problem is more personality based. And vice versa.

Jenny needs a different job. Jenny is not suited to working as a swimming teacher.

Scheduled downtime where she can sit comfortably without bright lights, noise and disturbance between sessions, possibly outside away from customers (no 'you must not leave the premises under any circumstances until you have finished for the day') could help, as going from one session straight to another with all the noise and the lighting can increase disregulation. Not having awful music that's too loud going all the time (one of my most hated things about fitness environments, as it's often too loud to think) is another one.

Jenny needs to find a different job tbh. She is going to m herself unwell by putting her in a physical environment that is incompatible with her wellbeing.

Accommodations around planning and organising are reasonable. If she can’t manage her emotional regulation then she needs to learn how to do so/consider meds/strategies and address these things if possible or recognise that this role isn’t suitable at this time. Accommodations are a legal obligation but this doesn’t mean compromising a child’s safety. ADHD has different severity levels and presentations and there could be other things going on I don’t think it’s possible to suggest tailored suggestions for an individual unless there is an understanding of individual presentation and need.

She needs to be well regulated before she’s even in the water so having someone in there with her won’t have a huge impact if she’s already over the threshold.

I have ADHD and work in HR, I agree with other posters that this isn’t the job for her. But I’d also support her to apply to Access to Work and try and get an ADHD coach who might be able to help steer her in a better direction.

This alone is the reason why it’s not ok: “If the children in the pool are struggling to regulate, she becomes very frantic and cries.”

I think that unfortunately would make for a poor learning environment for kids whatever the lesson type. Add in the potential for child to drown while she’s not in control then you’ve got a disaster waiting to happen quite frankly.

You can accommodate the rest but that bit is a massive red flag.